The Cramps - Live at Napa State Mental Hospital

"Anybody Know what's on TV ?? ...YOU ARE!" Just like Joe Rees from Target Video says on the back of this fantastic, but grainy, black and white video release, "It becomes hard to tell who are really the mental patients." This is Lux Interior and The Cramps in their prime, Live at Napa State Mental Hospital in June of 1978. Though, I highly enjoyed watching this crazy show, I do wish there was more than just 8 songs - with the band opening up with "Mystery Plane" from their first studio album Songs the Lord Taught Us. The rest of the seven songs are: "Way I Walk" - "What's Behind the Mask" - "Human Fly" - "Domino" - "Love Me" (telling the crowd to "Please Love Me!") - "Twist and Shout" & "TV Set" to finish things off ~All throughout the show you have the mental patients joining in and singing along with the band, bobbing back and forth, wild-eyed and smiling from ear to ear ~ Just like Lux himself! Truly a Mad-Man and proud of it, Mr. You got this lady ballroom dancing with Lux, looking like crazed skeletons, mic is getting all tangled up from peoples' pushing and shoving, all awhile a crowd of crazies are screaming and shouting. During the song "Love Me," Lux asks to a chick sitting next to him, "How do you like the Cramps, honey?" Ooh I got cramps, Lux: "Yeah, I got Cramps too, and I don't know what to do with them either."- "What a mess!" but really I can't envision a Cramps show any better than this, despite how short it is! "I'll Use Your Eyeballs as Dials for my TV SET!" - 22 minutes of CHAOS! Just the way that I like it ~ Yes, craziness abounds...for fans of The Cramps and/OR Mental Institutions :P

If all DVDs are Mount Everest, this one's at the tippy top.It works on so many levels. At one level it's a littlescary because you find yourself reacting to ths music just like the "inmates" and feel like you are one of them. On another level it's incredibly satisfying to see The Cramps performing this extremely good deed, really reaching these troubled souls. During chaotic moments, it's amazing how well The Cramps handlethe situation, not trying to put controls on the audience,even when the lead singer has to struggle, several times,to regain control of the microphone, he does it with incrediblegrace & power; and even those uninvited vocals seem toblend perfectly well with the overall ecstatic madness.AND, after all this, The Cramps' performance itself is fantastic,and the production values (given the nature of the event) aresurprisingly good. Extra added attraction: the video also features some other entertaining punk/performance art pieces, mostof which are extremely creative...but The Cramps' show is thereal story here...I'd have to list this as the best DVD I own.

…that this happened. Bad picture quality and sound makes it even better.

It was insane, nostalgic, it was The Cramps. Who else, but the Cramps.could pull this off.

This video is awesome. Had no idea who this band was until my other half turned me on to it. What a great day that was for the residents at Napa State Mental Hospital. It's cool because you can't tell who are patients and who are not patients in some of it. These residents were able to just let loose and be whatever they wanted to be. It was awesome.I'm not really into punk at all, and some of the songs drove me crazy, but some were alright. It's the environment that makes this combined with the band's unconditional tolerance to anything.Excellent show and quite admirable.

Like others have said considering the date & what this was shot with the quality is pretty darn good. Show was great but I gave this 4 stars due to the length. We get 8 songs that equal about 20 -25 mins of footage here with only some small sample clips from other Target Video shows, I'd have liked a little more content. Still a great pick up dvd for fans.

A MUST HAVE.....recorded after their 1st "lp" "gravest hits" and before their 1st "lp" proper "songs the lord taught us", I was having flashbacks of seeing these guys (original line up) at the capitol theater in passaic n.j. a few times around this same period.....UNBELIEVABLE......the thing just made me feel good watching it....the cramps at a live at a mental hospital......there are no words really. get it!

Although not one of their best performances, fans will love it. The patients fully participate in the performance, and the cramps are totally comfortable with and enjoying the patients. Lux allows patients to use the mic between verses, and although very uninhibited, it does not appear that any of them have heard the cramps before. It's hysterically funny.

Where to begin/ Firstly, I realised that this dvd of the Cramps at Napa State mental Hospital was of not very good quality before buying and that is fine - in fact for a hand held mic and an early video recorder, the 'concert' footage isn't that bad overall. (Poison Ivy in the background somewhat?!) What does irk me - and hence 2 stars - is on the back of the sleeve, it says 'programme duration: approx 60 mins' (sic) - yet the Cramps concert itself runs at a shade over 20 minutes - the rest of the dvd is filled with a mash up of MVD/Weinerworld programme clips (including an early Robot wars type of thing) and other 'extras' are a selection of 20 second approx. sound bites of various American new wave/punk bands with awful sound/picture quality. So, in reality, you pay for 20 minutes of Cramps footage. Promoted as such - but if anyone looking to buy this, remember that. (The rest of it is just rubbish filler. I am debating wether to bin this or not...

A must have for any discerning Cramps fan, an absolute gem of a recording. Fuzzy, blured, grainy, out of focus, one mike sound, superb, an absolute iconic one off performance that simply can not be imitated anywhere. The Cramps are and will only be the masters of this sort of show which undoubtly inspired many to try and do what they did so well! This is how music should be, so todays manufactured tripe should take a look and learn. Bands like the Cramps do not come around very often, I was lucky enough to see them three times with various line ups, however Lux and Ivy will always come way out on top as the heart and soul of the Cramps.I can watch this over and over again, the crowd at this gig certainly enjoyed themselves! An iconic masterpiece...

The quality of the audio and video of this dvd is pretty basic and you have to remember it's a one camera, one microphone, black and white, 1978 vintage recording. However, if you're a Cramps fan then this DVD is a LOT of fun and you've probably been waiting for many years for it's release, like me, after seeing rough quality VHS tapes.Like a reviewer said on the Amazon.com site, this DVD isn't for everyone. You must appreciate The Cramps, their music and their humour. You must not be politically correct. The whole thing is just hard to believe. Never, in today's world, would this be allowed to happen. A band filming a private show for the patients in a state Mental Hospital? I don't think so, but that's exactly what this is! 8 songs, a little over 35 minutes long - a true classic and an item that very Cramps fan MUST own.Enjoy!Martin

From the very moment Lux drawls, 'We're the Cramps...Somebody told me you people are crazy but I'm not sure' you are assured of a gloriously disturbing, politically incorrect experience, safe in the certain knowledge that this could never again occur. EVER. Totally lo-fi and all the better for it the original line in all it's diseased and dirty splendour hammer through 30 minutes of essential early garage classics, the purchase price justified instantly by the footage of Gregory, surely the coolest man to grace this planet to date and Knox, the greatest drummer in the history of the world. I am in in total accordance with the reviewer on the splendidly 'thrown together' cover in as much as dress sense quickly becomes the only way to discern between inmate and band. An absolute must for the leigons of CRAMPS fans and the perfect andidote to the sterile, manufactured pap of 'Pop Idol.' The footage should be shown daily to primary school children and the future of music may just be assured...Back to the CRAMPS...It is written.

A must for cramps fans,unique & will never be done again in this 'P C' age !